ŚB 2.8.23
Devanagari
यथात्मतन्त्रो भगवान् विक्रीडत्यात्ममायया ।
विसृज्य वा यथा मायामुदास्ते साक्षिवद् विभु: ॥ २३ ॥
विसृज्य वा यथा मायामुदास्ते साक्षिवद् विभु: ॥ २३ ॥
Verse text
yathātma-tantro bhagavān
vikrīḍaty ātma-māyayā
visṛjya vā yathā māyām
udāste sākṣivad vibhuḥ
vikrīḍaty ātma-māyayā
visṛjya vā yathā māyām
udāste sākṣivad vibhuḥ
Synonyms
yathā — as; ātma-tantraḥ — independent; bhagavān — the Personality of Godhead; vikrīḍati — enjoys His pastimes; ātma-māyayā — by His internal potency; visṛjya — giving up; vā — as also; yathā — as He desires; māyām — the external potency; udāste — remains; sākṣivat — just as the witness; vibhuḥ — the almighty.
Translation
The independent Personality of Godhead enjoys His pastimes by His internal potency and at the time of annihilation gives them up to the external potency, and He remains a witness to it all.
Purport
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, being the Supreme Personality of Godhead and fountainhead of all other incarnations, is the only independent person. He enjoys His pastimes by creation as He desires and gives them up to the external energy at the time of annihilation. By His internal potency only, He kills the demon Pūtanā, even though enjoying His pastimes in the lap of His mother Yaśodā. And when He desires to leave this world He creates the pastimes of killing His own family members (Yadu-kula) and remains unaffected by such annihilation. He is the witness of everything that is happening, and yet He has nothing to do with anything. He is independent in every respect. Mahārāja Parīkṣit desired to know more perfectly, for a pure devotee ought to know well.